Slipknot's Joey Jordison?
Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa?
"Who is the fastest drummer?" Music Fans have been discussing this for
generations, after a Slipknot gig, a drum'n bass rave, after seeing
The Who, after leaving a swing club, after getting busted in a speakeasy
in the prohibition era. And most of the time the discussion has the
competence of a boy's quarrel that is as old: Can Batman beat up
Superman?

So let's settle this in a professional way.

There is a common misunderstanding
that a fast drummer is a good drummer, and even beyond, that playing the
drums fast means good music.
That is as truthful as thinking that wanking is better the faster you
stroke your cock (or she does it, if you are lucky). Yes, might be.
Sometimes it's just painful.
Same with drums: A fast drummer can make a song thrilling, electrifying,
even breath-taking in the truest sense. But he also just might give you
pains in your eardrums, your heart or even your bones.

Quantity: How to measure a drummer's speed

There are two ways of judging
how fast a drummer is: looking and hearing. Before we take a look at
the subjective impression of someone who looks fast, let's try an
objective approach to measuring how fast he is.

The scientific unit for measuring speed in music is beats per minute (BPM).
To give you an idea here are some typical speed ranges:

Music Genre

Typical BPM range

Baroque music

50-70 beats per minute

Slow blues

60+ beats per minute

Soul

75-90 beats per minute

Hip hop

80-100 beats per minute

House music

100-130 beats per minute

Jungle

140-150 bpm, even up to 190

PsyTrance

145 bpm (a kind of tradition)

Drum and bass

150-185 beats per minute

Gabber

200+ beats per minute

Speedcore

up to 300 beats per minute

As far as measurable speed is concerned, the question is decided.
That's what the Guiness' Book of Records is for. Mike Mangini does 1200
beats per minute.

After
watching that video you probably understand why no one is interested in
the objective answer. Playing fastest doesn't mean playing good - it
doesn't even mean playing music.
In our (Luzifer's and Trommelfeuer's) opinion being the fastest is not an
art, it's a sport.

Artist / Band

Song

BPM

AC/DC

T.N.T.

129

Aerosmith

Crazy

54

Beethoven

Ode an die Freude / Ode to Joy (Anthem of Europe)

130-200

Green Day

Hitchin' A Ride

164

Jimi Hendrix

Purple Haze

ca. 110

John Lennon

Imagine

76

Led Zeppelin

Stairway To Heaven

84

Metallica

Enter Sandman

124

Phil Collins

In The Air Tonight

95

Queen

Another One Bites The Dust

110

Status Quo

Whatever You Want

123

Suzi Quatro

Can The Can

177

Uriah Heep

Lady In Black

86

Don't get fooled to believe that fast beats are a modern development. The
classical tempi range from Largamente (10 bpm) to Prestissimo
(200 bm+).
A good beat always is in sync with the feelings it evokes: A relaxed ballad
or a typical Mozart Adagio (italian: at ease) has 66–76 bpm - the
natural heart beat ryhtm. Love songs typical create a faster pulse - the way
we feel when we are in love. A classic Andante (italian: at a walking
pace) has 76–108 bpm) - like many pop songs that make you feel energetic.
An Allegro means 120–168 bpm, the same range most rock hits are in;
you have to run or dance really excited to get your heart beat that
fast.
In "Master of Puppets" Lars Ulrich from Metallica speeds up
to 220 bpm to express what the song is about: drugs controlling you.

Quality: Ways to look at a drummer's speed

Ok, so we showed who the
world's fastest drummer is - and that no one of us really is interested in
that. Because what we really want to talk about is the subjektive
impression of speed a drummer can create in us. That is what art is about:
not facts, but feelings.
A good performer is able to evoke interest and excitement in his fans.

So the real question ist: What drummer can excite us most with his
speed?

If you only want to hear that
your hero ist the best we advise you to get to another website. If you are
interested in learning a few things about fast drumming you didn't know -
read on.

Neil Peart vom Rush is found in alot of Top 10 drummer lists. If people
argue against this, they usually point to the fact, that his style depends
on his extremely big kit. Then again, this man obviously is one of the
fastest drummers in changing instruments.

The Ventures were one of the most successful instrumental bands; in the
1960s they sold more than 100 million records. As with most instrumental
bands the main focus was on the guitars. But you need a really good
drummer to keep so many good guitarists in rythm.
Here drummer Mel Taylor plays the fastest of all surf rock songs: Wipe Out
by the Beach Boys. There's even a short stunt when Taylor is playing
without using his hands ...

In 1966 Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich
performed a legendary drum battle at the Sammy Davies Jr. Show. Both are
acknowledged as being the best drummers of their time, sometimes even the
best of all times. Of course a lot of their expertise can't be compared to
modern rock drumming.
The first minute is a standard swing session. In 1:35 Krupa shows a
technique of playing cross-armed that even impresses show host Sammy
Davies Jr. behind him. In 2:15 Rich starts a rampage against the main
drum.

Rich's speed was so legendary that 20 years later in the Muppets Show
he did a
funny drum battle against the Animal.

In Beethoven's Ode to Joy the drummers mostly play Allegro to
expess Joy, but in the finale they beat the whole orchestra into a Prestissimo
frenzy. No one ever talks about these drummers when they discuss fast
drummers. Granted, they guy on the kettle drum or tenor drum only has to
play that one instrument, while a modern rock drummer has to master a whole
kit of drums. But then again, how many modern music requires the drummer to
change the speed 6 times during one song, perfectly in sync with 100 other
musicians?

We would like to hear suggestions - especially if you have links to
videos or facts proving a musician's class. We try to compile a broad view
that people all over continents and decadeds can share.
But, fanboys all over, do spare us with childish mails in the style of the
"WTF <insert fanboy's hero> rules. Why dinnot you fucks
include <insert minority genre newcomer band>?"If your
favorite band really is cool then the guys will prove it by still being famous
in 2020. If they are not we won't waste our time. We are talking about
stars here - not about meteorites.